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The first two Keynote Hall
sessions of the day Friday focused on domain monetization. Above, ParkLogic.com
Founder Michael Gilmour kicked things off with an interesting data-rich
presentation detailing The State of the Industry: Monetization.
Below, Michael returned for a timely
panel discussion on How to Maximize Your Parking Revenue During the
Crisis. That session featured, clockwise from top left, Moderator Bill
Sweetman, Michael Gilmour, Above.com CEO David Warmuz and
Bodis.com Founder Matt Wegryzn. The encouraging upshot from these
sessions was that the monetization business, like most other corners of the
industry, is booming as the pandemic has pushed millions of
consumers and companies to go online so they can safely get things done.
Speaking of business, the legalization
of both both medicinal and recreational use marijuana in so many jurisdictions
has created a booming new industry based on cannabis. Above, Soeren
von Varchmin (left) interviewed MediaOptions.com CEO Andrew Rosener
about that development in The 4:20 Session. Andrew has
accumulated one of the world's best .com cannabis related portfolios
over the past decade. Early on he was convinced legalization was coming and he
put his money on that happening before everyone else got on the
bandwagon. It's a bet that now has him positioned to collect extraordinary
rewards.
In the next session the topic turned
to Blockchain Domains: The State of Play. An expert panel
featuring, clockwise from top left, Moderator Christa Taylor (CMO,
MMX), Brad Kam (Unstoppable Domains), Mike Carson (Park.io),
Toby Hall (CEO, MMX) and Tieshun Roquerre
(NameBase) discussed the future of naming—and domaining—on an internet
forever changed by blockchain and peer-to-peer.
Next up, Andrew Allemann (DomainNameWire.com)
interviewed author Kieren McCarthy (at left), who literally wrote
the book on the unbelievable battle for Sex.com (a domain that sold
for $13 million, currently the 2nd highest price ever
publicly reported for a domain name). Their session, Someone’s Getting
Screwed: The War for SEX.COM, was fascinating as Kieren recounted
details of a story that, had it been fiction, people would have dismissed as
too crazy to be believable. But it all happened - and even though I
thought I knew most of this story, I realized I didn't, so I am getting the
book - Sex.com:
One Domain, Two Men, Twelve Years and the Brutal Battle for the Jewel in the
Internet's Crown. Great presentation Kieren and Andrew!
With the final day of NamesCon
Online winding down, the next to last session covered a topic that never
gets old - What's my Domain Worth? To tell you everything you ever
wanted to know about valuing domains, the panel brought together, clockwise
from top left, Moderator Braden Pollock (LegalBrandMarketing.com),
Josh Reason (DNWE.com), Kate Buckley (Buckley Media), Alan
Shiflett (GoDaddy) and Andrew Rosener (MediaOptions.com). The
experts, with many millions of dollars in sales between them. discussed how
they use their experience, intuition, and the latest diagnostic tools to
settle on an individual domain's approximate value. This is one of the many
sessions you may want to replay (a function NamesCon Online is making
available for all show sessions through the end of September.
The final Keynote Hall session of
NamesCon Online could be seen as a prime example of saving the best for last.
Moderator Bill Sweetman interviewed Telepathy Founder Nat Cohen
(at right above) who holds a domain portfolio that is universally recognized
as one of the best in the world (if not the best). When you hold
valuable assets, there are always people who covet them and Nat has been no
exception. Over the years, unscrupulous parties have attempted to use (or I
should say abuse) the UDRP process to take very valuable domains
from Telepathy, without paying for them. Nat, one of the nicest and most
humble guys you will meet in any industry, has spent a lot of money
fighting for what is rightfully his (and almost always winning), but several
years ago he tired of the endless battles and became one of the industry's
most vigorous defenders of domain owner rights (his service on the board
of the Internet
Commerce Association is one way Nat is taking the fight to would
be reverse domain hijackers). In this session, Bill did a great job getting
the back story on The Reluctant Activist in A Fireside
Chat With Nat Cohen. Put this one on your replay list too!
At the same time all of those great
sessions were going on the Keynote Hall, seven more live sessions were
unfolding in the Breakout Hall. I will be using the replay system to
see most of those over the next few days, but I was able to pop into a couple
of them as they unfolded live today. In the opening session above Kevin
Kopas (Co- Founder, ShortDot) talked with attorney Stevan Lieberman
(top right)about Trademarking a Dot and What That Means for Domainers.
In a later panel discussion (below),
the topic was Bulk Domain Search for Investors, Developers, Resellers,
and End Users. It featured, clockwise from top left) Bennett Collen
(GoDaddy), Todd Han (Founder, Dynadot), Morgan Linton (Bold
Metrics) and Alvin Brown (KickstartCommerce.com).
Earlier in the day, Alvin had a
timely solo presentation on Guarding Your Domain Portfolio Against
Economic Downturn. In other Breakout Hall sessions (all of which can
be replayed until the end of September), Jason Sheppard (Eagle Nebula
Media) covered Buying and Selling on Aftermarkets, Drew Walsh
told his audience how to Develop a Lead Business On The RIGHT Domain,
Bill Hartzer (Hartzer Consulting) had The Latest SEO and Domain
Name Research, and Alan August (Domain Banana) delivered a talk
titled United We Brand to let people know about Branders
Union, an association of brandable domain name investors who
collaborate and advocate for their collective interests in the domain
industry.
...and that's not all! Things were
just as busy on the South Asia Track, but for those of us in the U.S.,
those sessions ran overnight as NamesCon Online continued to rock
around the clock! That's why I love the ability to replay sessions
I couldn't get to live. Some of the world's most active domain investors are
in India and other parts of the region that represents one of fastest
growing domain communities on earth. So, I am looking forward to taking
in what the experts from South Asia had to say so I can put together a report
devoted to that track that will be published one day next week here in the
DNJournal Lowdown section).
As you all know, NamesCon is not all
business - there is always time for some fun too...and that is how the
conference officially closed today. After the last business sessions there was
a BYO.Vodka Bar Jukebox Radio Party (the screen shot above is just a
graphic, so no need to try playing it - no matter how much vodka you drank, it
won't work)! This event essentially turned the NamesCon site into a private
radio station programmed by attendees. With a chat window open adjacent to the
Play button, you could enter YouTube links to your favorite songs and they
would be added to the play list. While listening to the music people could
share their thoughts on how the show went in the chat. A lot of people also
headed over to the Networking Lounge to chat face to face via their
webcams. Though the show is now over, NamesCon is leaving the Networking
Lounge open Saturday (Sept. 12), so you may want to pop in and see who's
there!
Above:
Just before the Jukebox Party got underway, NamesCon CRO Timo Kargus
(top right) joined Moderators Bill Sweetman and Christa Taylor
to thank everyone for coming to NamesCon Online.
There was another
great moderator that I saw for the first time this week, Peter Schwinge.
I didn't catch a screenshot of Peter but I know many shared my appreciation
for his skills - he is as smooth as any personality you will see on national
TV networks. Also deserving credit for how good NamesCon Online looked on
your screens are the people behind the scenes at StreamYard
and ProductionPool,
as well as the final platform their work was displayed on, Hubilo.
I usually close these final day
conference wrap ups with a thank you to the show organizers and their
team, but I did that at the top this time because what they did with
NamesCon Online deserves top billing. In a time when we can't get
together face to face, NamesCon put together a fabulous online alternative
to fill the gap for all of us. How they did this for a $59 registration fee
(and free to those who have never been to a NamesCon event before) is
beyond me, but I sure am glad they did it and it was a wonderful gift
to the domain community.
They may have done their job too
well though! There are already people calling for NamesCon Online to be an
annual event. I am certainly looking forward to seeing everyone in
person again, but the way this industry is growing, in the midst of
one of the century's most challenging times, it looks like there would be
plenty of room for both - just saying. After all, who doesn't want to have
their cake and eat it too?!
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